Volumetric ultrasound scanning usually involves the movement of an ultrasound transducer relative to a tissue sample and the processing of resultant ultrasound echoes to form a data volume representing at least one acoustic property of the tissue sample. Volumetric ultrasound scanning of the breast has been proposed as a complementary modality for breast cancer screening as described, for example, in the commonly assigned US 2003/007598A1, which is incorporated by reference herein. The commonly assigned WO 2004/030523A2, which is incorporated by reference herein, describes a full-field breast ultrasound (FFBU) scanning apparatus that compresses a breast along planes such as the craniocaudal (CC) plane, the mediolateral oblique (MLO) plane, etc., and ultrasonically scans the breast. One side of an at least partially conformable, substantially taut membrane or film sheet compresses the breast. A transducer translation mechanism maintains an ultrasound transducer in contact with the other side of the film sheet while translating the ultrasound transducer thereacross to scan the breast.
Other FFBU scanning devices that compress the breast in other directions, such as in generally chestward or “head-on” directions, are described in one or more of the following commonly assigned applications, each of which is incorporated by reference herein: U.S. Ser. No. 60/565,698 filed Apr. 26, 2004; U.S. Ser. No. 60/577,078 filed Jun. 4, 2004; U.S. Ser. No. 60/629,007 filed Nov. 17, 2004; WO 2005/104729 A2; and WO 2005/120357 A1. It would be desirable to facilitate ultrasound scanning of a breast in a manner that promotes volumetric completeness and good image quality while also promoting patient comfort and clinical efficiency.
WO 03/103500 discusses the use of a tissue molding element having a hole through which an ultrasonic transducer scans the breast as the tissue molding element is rotated. However, in comparison to one or more of the preferred embodiments described herein, the device(s) discussed in WO 03/103500 bring about one or more shortcomings in relation to volumetric completeness, image quality, patient comfort, and/or clinical efficiency. Other issues arise as would be readily apparent to one skilled in the art in view of the present disclosure.